Climate change is a major threat to the survival and livelihood of rural communities. Most of these rural communities which predominate in the developing world are involved in climate-dependent sectors like agriculture and livestock rearing. In Cameroon, most of the population involved in agriculture and livestock rearing activities live in rural areas. Their livelihoods are increasingly being threatened by climate change, and their survival would depend on their ability to withstand the stresses and shocks induced by climate change which is only possible through proper adaptation measures. This paper which is based on an in-depth review of 43 empirical research works conducted in the Bamenda highlands of Cameroon sought to assess the impacts, vulnerability, resilience, and nature-based adaptation to climate variability and change in rural communities in the Bamenda highlands of Cameroon. From the findings uncovered, the main impacts of climate variability and change on rural communities in the Bamenda highlands of Cameroon are falling crop yields, water scarcity, floods, bushfires, pests and diseases, food insecurity, and recurrent conflicts, especially intervillage and farmer-herder conflicts. Rural communities in the Bamenda highlands of Cameroon are highly vulnerable to climate change owing to their high level of exposure to extreme weather events; their high level of sensitivity owing to the presence of many smallholder farmers, high rural population density, and limited practice of climate-smart practices like agroforestry; and their limited adaptive capacity owing to limited human, financial, social, physical, and natural capital. The resilience level of rural communities in the Bamenda highlands is low owing to recurrent stresses and shocks triggered by climate change and the limited adaptive capacity of rural dwellers. Rural communities are increasingly resorting to different nature-based adaptation measures including the practice of agroforestry, conservation agriculture, apiculture, tree planting, community forestry, and community-based watershed management, to improve their adaptive capacity in the face of climate change. Rural communities’ interest in adopting nature-based climate adaptation measures is hampered by economic, social, environmental, and institutional barriers. The study recommends that governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders take adequate measures to mitigate the barriers hampering the adoption of nature-based adaptation measures by rural communities in the Bamenda highlands of Cameroon as this will go a long way to improve the living conditions of rural masses.